Download French 2 Chapter 2.2 Grammar Review

French 2
Chapter 2.2 Grammar Review
Passé Composé and Past Participles
1. THE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ: The Passé Composé expresses the completed past, and is made up of a
Helping Verb (either Avoir or Être) and a Past Participle of the main verb.
Ex: Main Verb = manger

Nous avons mangé 
We have eaten
2. PAST PARTICIPLES (PP): A Past Participle is a form of the main verb that cannot stand alone
and must be used in conjunction with a Helping Verb. Here is how to form the PP of the main verb:
VERB GROUP
- ER
- IR
- RE
PAST PARTICIPLE
-é
-i
-u
EXAMPLE
parler
parlé
choisir 
choisi
perdre
perdu
3. IRREGULAR PAST PARTICPLES: There are a number of Irregular Past Participles that must be
memorized. The following, you should already know:
VERB
avoir
boire
connaître
devenir
dire
PP
eu
bu
connu
devenu
dit
VERB
écrire
être
faire
lire
mettre
PP
écrit
été
fait
lu
mis
VERB
mourir
naître
offrir
pleuvoir
pouvoir
PP
mort
né
offert
plu
pu
VERB
prendre
savoir
venir
voir
vouloir
PP
pris
su
venu
vu
voulu
Passé Composé with Avoir
1. The Passé Composé with Avoir is used most verbs and is made by conjugating Avoir (the Helping
Verb) and adding the Past Participle (PP) of the main verb:
PARLER/ CHOISIR / PERDRE
Subject
je (j’)
tu
il / elle / on
SINGULAR
Avoir
Past Participle
ai
parlé / choisi / perdu
as
parlé / choisi / perdu
a
parlé / choisi / perdu
Subject
nous
vous
ils / elles
PLURAL
Avoir
Past Participle
avons
parlé / choisi / perdu
avez
parlé / choisi / perdu
ont
parlé / choisi / perdu
2. The Passé Composé is the equivalent of three different ways to express the past tense in English:
Ex: Nous avons parlé

we spoke / we have spoken / we did speak
Passé Composé with Être
1. The Passé Composé with Être is used with “verbs of motion” and is made by conjugating Être (the
Helping Verb) and adding the Past Participle (PP) of the main verb:
ALLER
Subject
je (j’)
tu
il / elle / on
SINGULAR
Être
Past Participle
suis
allé(e)
es
allé(e)
est
allé(e)
Subject
nous
vous
ils / elles
PLURAL
Être
Past Participle
sommes
allé(e)s
êtes
allé(e)(s)
sont
allé(e)s
2. PAST PARTICIPLE AGREEMENT WITH ÊTRE: When using Être as your helping verb, the PP
will always agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the subject
of the verb. With “vous” and “on”, the PP agreement is with the understood subject.
Ex: Elles sont sorties du marché.

The PP agrees with the subject (feminine plural)
Ex: Mesdames, vous êtes tombées? 
Agrees with understood subject (feminine plural)
3. DR & MRS. VANDERTRAMPP: The following verbs use Être as the Helping Verb:
devenir
revenir
monter*
DR & MRS VANDERTRAMPP
retourner
arriver
entrer
rester
sortir*
naître
rentrer
aller
venir
descendre*
tomber
mourir
partir
passer*
4. *ÊTRE VS. AVOIR: If the action of the verbs above with an [*] is directed towards an object, then
you must use Avoir as the Helping Verb, since that is the item in motion and NOT the subject.
Ex: Elle est sortie –vs– Elle a sorti le chien 
Notice there is no PP agreement with Avoir
Passé Composé and Negative Expressions*
1. There are many negative expressions that can be used with verbs, just like ne…pas as follows:
NEGATION
ne…pas
ne…ni
ne…jamais
ne…pas encore
ne…plus
ne…personne*
ne…rien
MEANING
not
neither…nor
never
not yet
no longer
no one/anyone
nothing/anything
2. *NE…PERSONNE: The exception to the placement of negations is “ne… personne” which goes
around the conjugated verb AND the Past Participle. Therefore it is irregular.
Ex: Nous ne sommes pas allés au marché 
Normal negation around the helping verb
Ex: Nous n’avons vu personne

Ne… personne also includes the PP